Research
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Lifestyle modification resulting in 7% weight loss and 150-175 minutes per week of physical activity can reduce the relative risk of obesity-related cancer by 16%, suggesting the effects of obesity on cancer risk may be reversible.
Aim for a 7% weight loss and 175 minutes of physical activity per week. While the cancer risk reduction in the major trial was not statistically significant, the trend suggests that maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise is a powerful way to lower your cancer risk.
GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
The only randomized trial to address the effect of lifestyle modification (7% weight loss and 175 minutes per week of physical activity) on cardiovascular risk was the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) trial... After 11 years of follow-up, data from the lifestyle intervention were associated with a 16% relative risk reduction in obesity-related cancer, though this comparison was not statistically significant (HR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.68- 1.04)... The findings from the Look AHEAD trial provide the first evidence that the effects of obesity on cancer risk may be reversible.
Why this rating
Based on a large randomized trial (Look AHEAD), though the specific cancer outcome was not statistically significant.
Source
The Triple Health Threat of Diabetes, Obesity, and Cancer—Epidemiology, Disparities, Mechanisms, and Interventions
Justin C. Brown et al. · Obesity · 2021
DOI 10.1002/oby.23161
narrative_reviewCited 36×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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